caused many Spiritualists in this country to make experiments; but for a
long time without success. Mr. and Mrs. Guppy, who are both amateur
photographers, tried at their own house, and failed. In March, 1872,
they went one day to Mr. Hudson’s, a photographer living near them (not
a Spiritualist), to get some _cartes de visite_ of Mrs. Guppy. After the
sitting the idea suddenly struck Mr. Guppy that he would try for a
spirit-photograph. He sat down, told Mrs. G. to go behind the
background, and had a picture taken. There came out behind him a large,
indefinite, oval white patch, somewhat resembling the outline of a
draped figure. Mrs. Guppy, behind the background, was dressed in black.
This is the first spirit-photograph taken in England, and it’s perhaps
more satisfactory on account of the suddenness of the impulse under
which it was taken, and the great white patch which no impostor would
have attempted to produce, and which, taken by itself, utterly spoils
the picture. A few days afterwards, Mr. and Mrs. Guppy and their little
boy went without any notice. Mrs. Guppy sat on the ground holding the
boy on a stool. Her husband stood behind looking on. The picture thus
produced is most remarkable. A tall female figure, finely draped in
white, gauzy robes, stands directly behind and above the sitters,
looking down on them and holding its open hands over their heads, as if
giving a benediction. The face is somewhat Eastern, and, with the hands,
is beautifully defined. The white robes pass behind the sitters’ dark
figures without in the least showing through. A second picture was then
taken as soon as a plate could be prepared; and it was fortunate it was
so, for it resulted in a most remarkable test. Mrs. Guppy again knelt
with the boy; but this time she did not stoop so much, and her head was
higher. The same white figure comes out equally well defined, but _it
has changed its position in a manner exactly corresponding to the slight
change of Mrs. Guppy’s position_. The hands were before on a level; now
one is raised considerably higher than the other, so as to keep it about
the same distance from Mrs. Guppy’s head as it was before. The folds of
the drapery all correspondingly differ, and the head is slightly turned.
Here, then, one of two things is absolutely certain. Either there was a
living, intelligent, but invisible being present, or Mr. and Mrs. Guppy,
the photographer, and some fourth person, planned a wicked imposture,
and have maintained it ever since. Knowing Mr. and Mrs. Guppy so well as
I do, I feel an absolute conviction that they are as incapable of an
imposture of this kind as any earnest inquirer after truth in the
department of natural science.
The report of these pictures soon spread. Spiritualists in great numbers
came to try for similar results, with varying degrees of success; till
after a time rumor of imposture arose, and it is now firmly believed by
many, from suspicious appearances on the pictures and from other
circumstances, that a large number of shams have been produced. It is
certainly not to be wondered at if it be so. The photographer, remember,
was not a Spiritualist, and was utterly puzzled at the pictures above
described. Scores of persons came to him, and he saw that they were
satisfied if they got a second figure with themselves, and dissatisfied
if they did not. He _may_ have made arrangements by which to satisfy
everybody. One thing is clear: that if there has been imposture, it was
at once detected by Spiritualists themselves; if not, then Spiritualists
have been quick in noticing what appeared to indicate it. Those,
however, who most strongly assert imposture, allow that a large number
of genuine pictures have been taken. But, true or not, the cry of
imposture did good, since it showed the necessity for tests and for
independent confirmation of the facts.
The test of clearly recognizable likenesses of deceased friends has
often been obtained. Mr. William Howitt, who went without previous
notice, obtained likenesses of two sons, many years dead, and of the
very existence of one of which even the friend who accompanied Mr.
Howitt was ignorant. The likenesses were instantly recognized by Mrs.
Howitt; and Mr. Howitt declares them to be “perfect and unmistakable.”
(Spiritual Magazine, Oct., 1872.) Dr. Thomson, of Clifton, obtained a
photograph of himself, accompanied by that of a lady he did not know. He
sent it to his uncle in Scotland, simply asking if he recognized a
resemblance to any of the family deceased. The reply was that it was the
likeness of Dr. Thomson’s own mother, who died at his birth; and there
being no picture of her in existence, he had no idea what she was like.
The uncle very naturally remarked, that he “could not understand how it
was done.” (Spiritual Magazine, Oct., 1873.) Many other instances of
recognition have occurred, but I will only add my personal testimony. A
few weeks back I myself went to the same photographer’s for the first
time, and obtained a most unmistakable likeness of a deceased relative.
We will now pass to a better class of evidence, the private experiments
of amateurs.
Mr. Thomas Slater, an old-established optician in the Euston Road, and
an amateur photographer, took with him to Mr. Hudson’s a new camera of
his own manufacture and his own glasses, saw everything done, and
obtained a portrait with a second figure on it. He then began
experimenting in his own private house, and during last summer obtained
some remarkable results. The first of his successes contains two heads
by the side of a portrait of his sister. One of these heads is
unmistakably the late Lord Brougham’s; the other, much less distinct, is
recognized by Mr. Slater as that of Robert Owen, whom he knew intimately
up to the time of his death. He has since obtained several excellent
pictures of the same class. One in particular shows a female in black
and white flowing robes, standing by the side of Mr. Slater. In another
the head and bust appears, leaning over his shoulder. The faces of these
two are much alike, and other members of the family recognize them as
likenesses of Mr. Slater’s mother, who died when he was an infant. In
another a pretty child-figure, also draped, stands beside Mr. Slater’s
little boy. Now, whether these figures are correctly identified or not,
is not the essential point. The fact that _any_ figures, so clear and
unmistakably human in appearance as these, should appear on plates taken
in his own private studio by an experienced optician and amateur
photographer, who makes all his apparatus himself, and with no one
present but the members of his own family, is the real marvel. In one
case a second figure appeared on a plate with himself, taken by Mr.
Slater when he was absolutely alone—by the simple process of occupying
the sitter’s chair after uncapping the camera. He and his family being
themselves mediums, they require no extraneous assistance; and this may
perhaps be the reason why he has succeeded so well. One of the most
extraordinary pictures obtained by Mr. Slater is a full-length portrait
of his sister, in which there is no second figure, but the sitter
appears covered all over with a kind of transparent lace drapery, which
on examination is seen to be wholly made up of shaded circles of
different sizes, quite unlike any material fabric I have seen or heard
of.
Mr. Slater has himself shown me all these pictures and explained the
conditions under which they were produced. That they are not impostures
is certain; and as the first independent confirmations of what had been
previously obtained only through professional photographers, their value
is inestimable.
A less successful but not perhaps on that account less satisfactory
confirmation has been obtained by another amateur, who, after eighteen
months of experiment, obtained a partial success. Mr. R. Williams, M.
A., Ph. D., of Hayward’s Heath, succeeded last summer in obtaining three
photographs, each with part of a human form besides the sitter, one
having the features distinctly marked. Subsequently another was
obtained, with a well-formed figure of a man standing at the side of the
sitter, but while being developed, this figure faded away entirely. Mr.
Williams assures me (in a letter) that in these experiments there was
“no room for trick or for the production of these figures by any known
means.”
The editor of the British Journal of Photography has made experiments at
Mr. Hudson’s studio, taking his own collodion and new plates, and doing
everything himself, yet there were “abnormal appearances” on the
pictures, although no distinct figures.
We now come to the valuable and conclusive experiments of Mr. John
Beattie, of Clifton, a retired photographer of twenty years’ experience,
and of whom the above-mentioned editor says: “Every one who knows Mr.
Beattie will give him credit for being a thoughtful, skillful, and
intelligent photographer, one of the last men in the world to be easily
deceived, at least in matters relating to photography, and one quite
incapable of deceiving others.”
Mr. Beattie has been assisted in his researches by Dr. Thomson, an
Edinburgh M. D., who has practiced photography, as an amateur, for
twenty-five years. They experimented at the studio of a friend, who was
not a Spiritualist (but who became a medium during the experiments), and
had the services of a tradesman—with whom they were well acquainted—as a
medium. The whole of the photographic work was done by Messrs. Beattie
and Thomson, the other two sitting at a small table. The pictures were
taken in series of three, within a few seconds of each other, and
several of these series were taken at each sitting. The figures produced
are, for the most part, not human, but variously-formed and shaded white
patches, which in successive pictures change their form, and develop, as
it were, into a more perfect or complete type. Thus, one set of five
begins with two white somewhat angular patches over the middle sitter,
and ends with a rude but unmistakable white female figure, covering the
larger part of the plate. The other three show intermediate states,
indicating a continuous change of form from the first figure to the
last. Another set (of four pictures) begins with a white vertical
cylinder over the body of the medium, and a shorter one on his head.
These change their form in the second and third, and in the last become
laterally spread out into luminous masses resembling nebulæ. Another set
of three is very curious. The first has an oblique flowing luminous
patch from the table to the ground; in the second, this has changed to a
white serpentine column, ending in a point above the medium’s head; in
the third, the column has become broader and somewhat double, with the
curve in an opposite direction, and with a head-like termination. The
change of the curvature may have some connection with a change in the
position of the sitters, which is seen to have taken place between the
second and the third of this set. There are two others, taken, like all
the preceding, in 1872, but which the medium described during the
exposure. The first, he said, was a thick white fog; and the picture
came out all shaded white, with not a trace of any of the sitters. The
other was described as a fog with a figure standing in it; and here a
white human figure is alone seen in the almost uniform foggy surface.
During the experiments made in 1873, the medium, _in every case_,
minutely and correctly described the appearances which afterwards came
out on the plate. In one there is a luminous-rayed star of large size,
with a human face faintly visible in the centre. This is the last of
three in which the star developed, and the whole were accurately
described by the medium. In another set of three, the medium first
described “a light behind him, coming from the floor.” The next, “a
light rising over another person’s arms, coming from his own boot.” The
third, “there is the same light, but now a column comes up through the
table, and it is hot to my hands.” Then he suddenly exclaimed, “What a
bright light up there! Can you not see it?” pointing to it with his
hand. All this most accurately describes the three pictures, and in the
last, the medium’s hand is seen pointing to a white patch which appears
overhead. There are other curious developments, the nature of which is
already sufficiently indicated; but one very startling single picture
must be mentioned. During the exposure one medium said he saw on the
background a black figure, the other medium saw a light figure by the
side of the black one. In the picture both these figures appear, the
light one very faintly, the black one much more distinctly, of a
gigantic size, with a massive coarse-featured face and long
hair.—(_Spiritual Magazine, January and August, 1873_; _Photographic
News, June 28th, 1872_.)
Mr. Beattie has been so good as to send me for examination a complete
set of these most extraordinary photographs, thirty-two in number, and
has furnished me with any particulars I desired. I have described them
as correctly as I am able; and Dr. Thomson has authorized me to use his
name as confirming Mr. Beattie’s account of the conditions under which
they appeared. These experiments were not made without labor and
perseverance. Sometimes twenty consecutive pictures produced absolutely
nothing unusual. Hundreds have been taken, and more than half have been
complete failures. But the successes have been well worth the labor.
They demonstrate the fact that what a medium or sensitive sees (even
where no one else sees anything) may often have an objective existence.
They teach us that perhaps the bookseller, Nicolai, of Berlin—whose case
has been quoted _ad nauseam_ as the type of a “spectral illusion”—saw
real beings after all; and that, had photography been then discovered
and properly applied, we might now have the portraits of the invisible
men and women who crowded his room. They give us hints of a process by
which the figures seen at séances may have to be gradually formed or
developed, and enable us better to understand the statements repeatedly
made by the communicating intelligences, that it is very difficult to
produce definite, visible and tangible forms, and that it can only be
done under a rare combination of favorable conditions.
We find, then, that three amateur photographers, working independently
in different parts of England, separately confirm the fact of
spirit-photography—already demonstrated to the satisfaction of many who
had tested it through professional photographers. The experiments of Mr.
Beattie and Dr. Thomson are alone absolutely conclusive; and, taken in
connection with those of Mr. Slater and Dr. Williams, and the test
photographs, like those of Mrs. Guppy, establish as a scientific fact
the objective existence of invisible human forms and definite invisible
actinic images. Before leaving the photographic phenomena we have to
notice two curious points in connection with them. The actinic action of
the spirit-forms is peculiar, and much more rapid than that of the light
reflected from ordinary material forms; for the figures start out the
moment the developing fluid touches them, while the figure of the sitter
appears much later. Mr. Beattie noticed this throughout his experiments,
and I was myself much struck with it when watching the development of
three pictures recently taken at Mr. Hudson’s. The second figure, though
by no means bright, always came out long before any other part of the
picture. The other singular thing is, the copious drapery in which these
forms are almost always enveloped, so as to show only just what is
necessary for recognition of the face and figure. The explanation given
of this is, that the human form is more difficult to materialize than
drapery. The conventional “white-sheeted ghost” was not then all fancy,
but had a foundation in fact—a fact, too, of deep significance,
dependent on the laws of a yet unknown chemistry.
SUMMARY OF THE MORE IMPORTANT MANIFESTATIONS, PHYSICAL AND MENTAL.
As we have not been able to give an account of many curious facts which
occur with the various classes of mediums, the following catalogue of
the more important and well-characterized phenomena may be useful. They
may be grouped provisionally, as, Physical, or those in which material
objects are acted on, or apparently material bodies produced; and
Mental, or those which consist in the exhibition, by the medium, of
powers or faculties not possessed in the normal state.
The principal physical phenomena are the following:
1. _Simple Physical Phenomena._—Producing sounds of all kinds, from a
delicate tick to blows like those of a heavy sledge-hammer. Altering the
weight of bodies. Moving bodies without human agency. Raising bodies
into the air. Conveying bodies to a distance out of and into closed
rooms. Releasing mediums from every description of bonds, even from
welded iron rings, as has happened in America.
2. _Chemical._—Preserving from the effects of fire, as already detailed.
3. _Direct Writing and Drawing._—Producing writing or drawing on marked
papers, placed in such positions that no human hand (or foot) can touch
them. Sometimes, visibly to the spectators, a pencil rising up and
writing or drawing apparently by itself. Some of the drawings in many
colors have been produced on marked paper in from ten to twenty seconds,
and the colors found wet. (See Mr. Coleman’s evidence in “Dialectical
Report,” p. 143, confirmed by Lord Borthwick, p. 150.) Mr. Thomas
Slater, of 136 Euston Road, is now obtaining communication in the
following manner: A bit of slate pencil an eighth of an inch long is
laid on a table; a clean slate is laid over this, in a well-lighted
room; the sound of writing is then heard, and in a few minutes a
communication of considerable length is found distinctly written. At
other times the slate is held between himself and another person, their
other hands being joined. Some of these communications are philosophical
discussions on the nature of spirit and matter, supporting the usual
Spiritual theory on this subject.
4. _Musical Phenomena._—Musical instruments, of various kinds, played
without human agency, from a hand-bell to a closed piano. With some
mediums, and where the conditions are favorable, original musical
compositions of a very high character are produced. This occurs with Mr.
Home.
5. _Spiritual Forms._—These are either luminous appearances, sparks,
stars, globes of light, luminous clouds, &c.; or, hands, faces, or
entire human figures, usually covered with flowing drapery, except a
portion of the face and hands. The human forms are often capable of
moving solid objects, and are both visible and tangible to all present.
In other cases they are only visible to seers, but when this is the case
it sometimes happens that the seer describes the figure as lifting a
flower or a pen, and others present see the flower or the pen apparently
move by itself. In some cases they speak distinctly; in others the voice
is heard by all, the form only seen by the medium. The flowing robes of
these forms have in some cases been examined, and pieces cut off, which
have in a short time melted away. Flowers are also brought, some of
which fade away and vanish; others are real, and can be kept
indefinitely. It must not be concluded that any of these forms are
actual spirits; they are probably only temporary forms produced by
spirits for purposes of test, or of recognition by their friends. This
is the account invariably given of them by communications obtained in
various ways; so that the objection once thought to be so crushing—that
there can be no “ghosts” of clothes, armor, or walking-sticks—ceases to
have any weight.
6. _Spiritual Photographs._—These, as just detailed, demonstrate by a
purely physical experiment the trustworthiness of the preceding class of
observations.
We now come to the mental phenomena, of which the following are the
chief:
1. _Automatic Writing._—The medium writes involuntarily; often matter
which he is not thinking about, does not expect, and does not like.
Occasionally definite and correct information is given of facts of which
the medium has not, nor ever had, any knowledge. Sometimes future events
are accurately predicted. The writing takes place either by the hand or
through a planchette. Often the handwriting changes. Sometimes it is
written backwards; sometimes in languages the medium does not
understand.
2. _Seeing, or Clairvoyance and Clairaudience._—This is of various
kinds. Some mediums see the forms of deceased persons unknown to them,
and describe their peculiarities so minutely that their friends at once
recognize them. They often hear voices, through which they obtain names,
date, and place, connected with the individuals so described. Others
read sealed letters in any language, and write appropriate answers.
3. _Trance-Speaking._—The medium goes into a more or less unconscious
state, and then speaks, often on matters and in a style far beyond his
own capacities. Thus, Serjeant Cox—no mean judge on a matter of literary
style—says, “I have heard an uneducated bar-man, when in a state of
trance, maintain a dialogue with a party of philosophers on ‘Reason and
Foreknowledge, Will and Fate,’ and hold his own against them. I have put
to him the most difficult questions in psychology, and received answers,
always thoughtful, often full of wisdom, and invariably conveyed in
choice and elegant language. Nevertheless a quarter of an hour
afterwards, when released from the trance, he was unable to answer the
simplest query on a philosophical subject, and was even at a loss for
sufficient language to express a commonplace idea,” (“What am I?” Vol.
II., p. 242.) That this is not overstated I can myself testify, from
repeated observation of the same medium. And from other
trance-speakers—such as Mrs. Hardinge, Mrs. Tappan, and Mr. Peebles—I
have heard discourses which, for high and sustained eloquence, noble
thoughts, and high moral purpose, surpassed the best efforts of any
preacher or lecturer within my experience.
4. _Impersonation._—This occurs during trance. The medium seems taken
possession of by another being; speaks, looks and acts the character in
a most marvelous manner; in some cases speaks foreign languages never
even heard in the normal state; as in the case of Miss Edmonds, already
given. When the influence is violent or painful, the effects are such as
have been in all ages imputed to possession by evil spirits.
5. _Healing._—There are various forms of this. Sometimes by mere laying
on of hands, an exalted form of simple mesmeric healing. Sometimes, in
the trance state, the medium at once discovers the hidden malady, and
prescribes for it, often describing very exactly the morbid appearance
of internal organs.
The purely mental phenomena are generally of no use as evidence to
non-Spiritualists, except in those few cases where rigid tests can be
applied; but they are so intimately connected with the physical series,
and often so interwoven with them, that no one who has sufficient
experience to satisfy him of the reality of the former, fails to see
that the latter form part of the general system, and are dependent on
the same agencies.
With the physical series the case is very different. They form a
connected body of evidence, from the simplest to the most complex and
astounding, every single component fact of which can be and has been
repeatedly demonstrated by itself; while each gives weight and
confirmation to all the rest. They have all, or nearly all, been before
the world for twenty years; the theories and explanations of reviewers
and critics do not touch them, or in any way satisfy any sane man who
has repeatedly witnessed them; they have been tested and examined by
skeptics of every grade of incredulity, men in every way qualified to
detect imposture or to discover natural causes—trained physicists,
medical men, lawyers and men of business—but in every case the
investigators have either retired baffled, or become converts.
There have, it is true, been some impostors who have attempted to
imitate the phenomena; but such cases are few in number, and have been
discovered by tests far less severe than those to which the genuine
phenomena have been submitted over and over again; and a large
proportion of these phenomena have never been imitated, because they are
beyond successful imitation.